Compression-type faucets have been used for many years to control the flow of water through domestic hot and cold water lines. Although the compression-type faucets are widely used, they possess several distinct disadvantages. For example, they are inherently subject to wear and seal deformation and in addition, are noisy in operation. As a result, in recent years numerous efforts have been made to develop replacement valves for the compression-type faucets.
One type of faucet valve proposed for replacement of compression-type faucet valves for the control of domestic hot and cold water lines is that disclosed in the Williams U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,679 and the variation thereof shown in the Manoogian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,493. The faucet valves disclosed in both of the patents comprise valve housings with upwardly open bores which have an inlet port which is offset from the axis of the bore and an outlet tube which leads from the bore to a spout. Positioned within the bore is a rotatable valve stem member which has an inlet passage in its bottom which is offset from the axis of rotation. Flow through the valves is controlled by rotating the valve stem to bring the inlet passage into and out of registry with the inlet port. In order to prevent flow from occurring when the inlet port and the inlet passage of the stem are out of registry, the inlet port is surrounded by a seal-receiving recess in which a seal member is positioned which forms a liquid tight seal with a solid portion of the bottom of the stem.
The wear of the seal member in this type of faucet valve is minimal because the seal member is not compressed by the stem and the bottom surface of the stem merely rotates over the seal member which is urged into a sealing engagement with the bottom of the stem by a compression spring. Although the described faucet valves are commercially available and gaining wide acceptance, they are not completely without disadvantage. For example, on occasion in some valves especially after substantial use, the seal between the side wall of the movable seal member and the recess may fail and water will seep between the wall of the recess and the outer wall of the seal member and enter the bore and pass through the outlet tube causing the faucet to drip. When this occurs, the seal member must be replaced which is not an easy task because of the need to also properly reset the spring.